Trouble reading today's article? Click
here: Issue #295 - Sunday, December 10, 2017
Dear Fellow
Grower,
In today's issue... - You've heard that your plant needs to be absolutely bathed in light, but do you need to cover the sides in light, too? Hmmm...
- Get a quick tutorial on
how to pollinate cannabis!
- A grower on our forum got a plant that wanted to manifold just as bad as he did! Hooray for positive genetic mutations!
Nebula Haze & Sirius Fourside (founders of GrowWeedEasy.com) "Success is a science; if you have the conditions, you get the result." ~Oscar Wilde
Is Side Lighting Worth It For Cannabis Growers? by Nebula Haze |
When growing a cannabis plant indoors, light usually comes from a grow light located at the top of the grow space. This means all the light is beaming down on the plant from above.
However, when growing cannabis outdoors, the
sun moves in the sky and plants get light not just from above, but also from the sides. That's a big part of why cannabis plants naturally grow in a "Christmas Tree" shape. The sloped sides help the plant get as much light from the sun as possible, even when the sun is lower in the sky.
The "Christmas Tree" shape is a great strategy outdoors in the wild because it captures light from the sides as the sun moves in
the sky. But that's not the only reason; this shape also helps buds get exposed to the wind so buds get pollinated.
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Does it make sense to add side lighting indoors? Can you copy one of the advantages of the sun and give light from the sides to increase yields?
Is Side Lighting Worth
It?
So, is side lighting worth it for indoor cannabis growers?
Side lighting can be helpful in certain situations, but usually, it's unnecessary and it often ends up costing more (as far as yields/watt) compared to giving more light from above.
The biggest downside to the
idea of side lighting has to do with how the plant processes and responds to the world it. A cannabis plant can actually "sense" which buds are located at the top of the plant and tends to fatten those ones the most. It's possible cannabis plants favor the top buds because in the wild those are the ones most likely to get pollinated by the wind.
That means even if you have two buds getting the exact same amount of light, the bud that's
located higher up on the plant will end up growing bigger and longer even though nothing else is different.
Even if you give a cannabis plant the exact same amount of light from top to bottom, like with these old-fashioned Phototrons, you can see that the buds at the top get far bigger than the ones at the bottom. That is just how cannabis plants roll :)
Even huge cannabis plants that get unlimited sunlight from all sides end up focusing on the top buds. These top buds are most likely to get pollinated in the wild! Because cannabis plants focus on the top buds, indoor growers usually focus on getting many top buds near the light as opposed to adding side lighting. This ends up getting you more "bang for your buck" because you'll get better
yields/watt than you would with side lighting.
Because tops buds grow the biggest, growers often train their plants to grow multiple colas in a flat, table-top shape, so that more bud sites are at the top of the plant (and close to the grow light) at the same time
Growing "wide" cannabis plants with light on top ends up getting better yields/watt than growing "tall" plants with light on the
sides Side Lighting vs Supplemental Lighting
- Side Lighting means specifically targeting the sides of the plant with light to try to increase bud size on the sides.
- Supplemental Lighting means you're trying to increase overall light levels or change the light spectrum. Supplemental lighting isn't about
giving light from the sides; in fact, generally supplemental lighting is given from above the plant because that gives you more bang for your buck.
Supplemental lighting is very common in greenhouses. If you have a spot in your yard that only gets good direct light for a few hours a day, or if you have a lot
of cloudy weather at your location, you could supplement with extra light from a grow light while still taking advantage of the free light you're getting from the sun.
Example of a Greenhouse Supplemented by LED Grow Lights to Increase Yields (A Light Mover Moves Grow Lights Back and
Forth)
Another common reason growers use supplemental lighting is to increase or alter the light spectrum, or "color" of the light. Each light spectrum has an effect how your plant grows and some growers are using the power of LED grow
lights (which allow you to choose the exact spectrum) to supplement either outdoor light or the light of other grow lights like HPS. These days it's pretty common to see growers use LED grow lights to achieve a specific spectrum; it's also common to see growers combine their LED panel with an HPS grow light to help get better yields and increased flower production.
This
grower uses both LED and HPS grow lights to help get the benefits of both Supplemental lighting can be a great choice in a lot of situations, but it's not exactly the same as side lighting, which tends to be a lot less useful most of the
time.
When Is Side Lighting a Good idea?
Side lighting can be a good idea with fluorescent grow lights like CFLs and possibly T5 grow lights with untrained plants. This is because these types of light don't reach far down into the plant. In fact, the light from fluorescents is so weak that it's only good for a few inches. By the time a plant is more than a foot away the light is pretty much useless as far as a cannabis plant is concerned. Because of these constraints, side lighting
can help make sure all buds are within a few inches of a light.
Sometimes side lighting can help with fluorescent lights like CFLs, especially on an untrained plant where most of the buds are far from the top of the plant.
However, if you train your cannabis plant to grow
short and flat you can increase your yields with the same amount of light because you'll be able to make sure every main bud is located towards the top of the plant while also getting full light levels.
In other words, even with weak grow lights,
you'll get far better yields by growing plants that are wide and flat as opposed to utilizing side lighting.
These buds got really fat even though they were grown under a small T5 grow light because every bud was near the top and close to the light, due to being trained to grow flat along a screen. When you get to really strong types of grow lights like HPS and LEDs, their light reaches deep down into the plant. This gives you long, thick buds without any type of side
lighting. To sum it up, it's good to get plenty of light to your buds no matter where they're located on the plant, as buds that are exposed to light and air tend to grow the biggest. But ultimately, you'll get better
yields/watt simply by making sure all main buds are located near the top of the plant and shining light directly down on them from above. In short, pass on side lighting and try training instead. :)
Ready to learn more?
Learn
how to increase....
How to Pollinate Your Cannabis! |
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Want to make cannabis seeds or breed your own strain but not sure how to collect pollen and pollinate effectively? It's actually really easy! All you
need is a plant that has pollen sacs developing.
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"Just want to say THANK YOU!!! for sharing all the knowledge, experience, tips & source info over the last 2 years! You're one of the best on the internet & respect all your efforts and want to give a big THANKS!!!"
~Lu |
Trophy Picture of the Week! |
"The manifolded one is a Green House White Widow and the other one is a Blueberry from Seedsman. What do you guys think? All organics and outdoors"
-Lpro27
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These beauties come from a grower on our forum who didn't even send in these pictures! A fellow
grower admired the 4-way node in the first pic (so cool!) and passed it along. By the way, we think your plants look great, Lpro27!
-Sirius We encourage you to forward this email to a friend in need!
Check Out Our Growing Community! |
Check out our friendly growing community to ask questions, discuss your grow, share pictures, or otherwise talk about growing cannabis with other real growers!
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Please note: We let each person in manually, so please be patient after you request to join and we'll try to let you in as soon as possible!! |
Who Runs This
Newsletter? |
Nebula Haze:
I'll be honest with you, when I first started growing, I struggled. Now, it is my mission to
make it easier for new growers to get started as well as help advanced growers get bigger, better yields with less time and money. We are updating and adding articles every single week and our goal is to eventually build a comprehensive growing resource so anyone and everyone can grow if they want to! If we all share the knowledge there's more buds in the world for everyone :) |
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Learn which seed sources are personally recommended by Nebula Haze |
Sirius Fourside:
Sirius Fourside is a hobbyist grower who has gained the bulk of his experience growing in water as a medium (deep water culture, bubbleponics).
"Growing cannabis can be a relaxing hobby in and of itself, but it also saves you money and keeps you from having to deal with shady characters. Cannabis is much easier to grow than people give it credit for, and growing in water
doesn't increase the difficulty much, if any. But whether you want to grow in water, coco, or a different medium, we'll show you how easy it can be!"
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Safely! |
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